Deutschordenskirche Friesach, Teutonic Order church in Friesach, Austria

The Deutschordenskirche Friesach is a church dedicated to Saint Blaise standing outside the town walls to the south of Friesach. Its yellow-walled nave and choir are Romanesque in core, with a Gothic choir extended in the 15th century and a three-storey tower crowned by a Baroque onion dome built in 1738. Frescoes of about 1170–1180 survive in the first choir bay.

The Romanesque hall church was probably built by Benedictine monks of Admont Abbey, who had a settlement in Friesach around 1167, about a century before the Teutonic Order moved here before 1275. Fires in 1461 and 1582 led to rebuilding; the choir was extended and re-consecrated in 1492. After a visitation in 1719 the church was baroquised, and the tower received its onion dome in 1738 to plans by Michael Robwalter.

The high altar is a late Gothic winged altarpiece acquired in 1883 from the pilgrimage church of Heiligengestade on Lake Ossiach; its wings were made around 1512 in the workshop of Thomas von Villach. The choir windows were donated by noble families at the end of the 19th century and show coats of arms alongside saints such as Francis, Aloysius of Gonzaga and Maximilian.

Access to the church is only possible by advance arrangement through contacting the porter of the Teutonic Order Hospital. Planning ahead is needed to organize a visit.

The south portal was bought from the pilgrimage church of Heiligengestade, demolished in 1891, and now links the nave to the monastery through a connecting wing. Above the Baroque west portal hangs a Latin cross with stylised Evangelist figures, possibly of Lombard origin, whose authenticity is doubted.